Home > Sira > The Prophet's marriage after Khadija: Aisha bint as-Siddiq and Sawda bint Zam’a
The marriage of Prophet Mohamed to Aisha bint as-Siddiq: the dream of the two times, the proposal to Abu Bakr (“you are my brother”), the ages of six and nine, the fever in Medina, al-Mut’im’s objection and Sawda bint Zam’a, from al-Boukhari, Mouslim and Ahmad.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
The preceding hadith ends thus: “Many men reached perfection” and, of women, none reached perfection but Asiya, Pharaoh’s wife, and Maryam bint Imran; “and Aisha’s favor over women is like the tharid’s over other foods.” The tharid is bread and meat together: it is the noblest of the Arabs’ foods, as a poet said:
“When bread you moisten it with meat: … that is the tharid, the trust deposited by Allah.”
His words “and Aisha’s favor over women” may be general, encompassing the mentioned women and others; or general concerning what surpasses them, the statement remaining suspended between them, accepting their equalization: preferring one of them over the others then requires evidence from outside. Allah is most knowing.
The sound position is that Aisha was first married by him, as will come. al-Boukhari related, in the chapter of Aisha’s marriage, from Mou’alla ibn Asad, from Wouhayb, from Hisham ibn Urwa, from his father, from Aisha: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to her: “You were shown to me twice in dream: I saw you in a silken cloth, and it was said: this is your wife; uncover her. And behold, it is you. I would then say: if this is from Allah, it will be accomplished.”
al-Boukhari related, in the chapter of marrying virgins: Ibn Abi Mulayka said: Ibn Abbas said to Aisha: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married no virgin but you.” Ismail related: I said to Abdallah ibn Abi Awfa: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)... and I related from Aisha: I said: “O Messenger of Allah, do you see: were you to descend in a valley wherein is a tree that has been browsed, and you found a tree not browsed: by which would you pasture your mount?” He said: “The one not browsed,” meaning the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married no virgin but her: al-Boukhari alone related it. Then he related, from Ubayd ibn Ismail, from Abu Uthmana, from Hisham, from his father,
from Aisha: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me: “You were shown to me twice in dream: a man carried you in a silken cloth and said: this is your wife. I uncovered its face: and it was you. I said: if this is from Allah, it will be accomplished.” And Mouslim related it, through the chain of Hisham ibn Urwa. al-Boukhari related it likewise, in the chapter of looking at the woman before marriage, from Mussaddad, from Hammad ibn Zayd: “You were shown to me in dream: the angel carried you in a silken cloth and said to me: this is your wife. I uncovered from your face the garment: and it was you; I said: if this is from Allah, it will be accomplished.” In one version: “You were shown to me three nights.” And at-Tirmidhi has: Jibril came to him with her image in a green silken cloth and said: “This is your wife in this world and the Hereafter.”
al-Boukhari related, in the chapter of the small being married to the great, from Abdallah ibn Yousouf, from al-Layth, from Yazid, from Iraak, from Urwa: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) proposed Aisha to Abu Bakr, who said: “I am but your brother.” He said: “You are my brother in Allah’s religion and His Book: she is lawful to me.” The apparent context of this hadith is as though it were suspended; but with al-Boukhari and the verifiers it is connected: it comes from Urwa, from Aisha (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and is among al-Boukhari’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) unique hadiths.
Younous ibn Boukayr related, from Hisham ibn Urwa, from his father: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married Aisha three years after Khadija’s death; Aisha was then six years old, he consummated the marriage when she was nine, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) died when she was eighteen. And that is a rare relation. al-Boukhari related, from Ubayd ibn Ismail, from Abu Uthmana, from Hisham, from his father: Khadija died three years before the Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) departure; he remained two years, or near that, then married Aisha when she was six, then consummated the marriage when she was nine. This statement of Urwa is suspended in its apparent context, as we said, but it is equivalent to the connected in substance.
His words: he married her at six and consummated at nine: this meets no disagreement among the people, and it is established in the Sahihs and elsewhere. His consummation with her (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) occurred in the second year of the Hijra to Medina. As for the marriage being about three years after Khadija’s death, that calls for reflection: the hafiz Ya’qoub ibn Soufyan related, from al-Hajjaj, from Hammad, from Hisham, from his father, from Aisha: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married me Khadija dead, before his exit from Mecca, and I was seven or six years old; when we arrived in Medina, women came to me while I was on a swing, adorned: they dressed me, then brought me to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when I was nine. His words in this hadith “Khadija dead” require that it were soon after, were it not that the words “after the death of Khadija” may have dropped from the copy: that does not negate what Younous ibn Boukayr and Abu Uthmana related, from Hisham, from his father. Allah is most knowing.
al-Boukhari related, from Farwa ibn Abi al-Maghra’, from Ali ibn Mushir, from Hisham ibn Urwa, from his father, from Aisha: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) married me when I was six. We came to Medina and stayed with the Banu al-Harith ibn al-Khazraj. I fell feverish and my hair fell, until it grew back thick. My mother, Umm Rouman, came to me : I was on a swing with companions of mine : she cried toward me; I came to her not knowing what she wanted of me; she took my hand until she stood me at the house’s door: I was breathless until my breath calmed. She took some water, wiped my face and head, then brought me into the house: there were Ansari women in the house, who said: “Upon good and blessing, upon the best bird.” She surrendered me to them: they put me right, and none came to me but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) at mid-morning, and they surrendered me to him: I was that day nine years old.
Imam Ahmad related in the Musnad of Aisha Umm al-Mu’minin, from Muhammad ibn Bishr, from Muhammad ibn Amr, from Abu Salama and Yahya: when Khadija died, Khawla bint Hakim, wife of Uthman ibn Maz’oun, came and said: “O Messenger of Allah, will you not marry?” He said: “Who?” She said: “If you wish a virgin, or a previously married one.” He said: “Who is the virgin?” She said: “The daughter of Allah’s dearest creature to you: Aisha, daughter of Abu Bakr.” He said: “And who is the married one?” She said: “Sawda bint Zam’a, who believed in you and followed you.” He said: “Go then and mention the two to me.” She entered Abu Bakr’s house and said to Umm Rouman: “What good and blessing Allah has brought you!” She said: “What is that?” She said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent me to ask for Aisha.” She said: “Wait for Abu Bakr.” Abu Bakr came; she said the same to him, and he said: “Is she fit for him?! She is but my brother’s daughter.” She returned to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and reported that. He said: “Return to him and say: I am your brother, you are my sister in Islam: your daughter is lawful to me.” She returned and reported that to him, and he said: “Wait.” Then he went out.
Umm Rouman said: al-Mut’im ibn Adi had asked her for his son, and by Allah he never promised but he fulfilled. Abu Bakr entered upon al-Mut’im ibn Adi, who had with him his wife Umm al-Fata. She said: “O son of Abi Quhafa, perhaps you wish to marry our daughter and introduce her into your religion were you to marry her?” Abu Bakr said to al-Mut’im: “Does she say that?” He said: “She says it.” He left, Allah having removed from his heart the hope promised. He returned and said to Khawla: “Call me the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).” She called him, and he married her to him, Aisha that day six years old.
She then went out and entered upon Sawda bint Zam’a, and said: “What good Allah has brought you!” Sawda said: “What is that?” She said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent me to ask you to him.” Sawda said: “I would love that: enter upon my father and mention that to him.” Her father was a very old man whom age had reached, having missed the pilgrimage. She entered upon him, greeted him with the greeting of jahiliyya, and he said: “Who is this?” She said: “Khawla bint Hakim.” He said: “What is your matter?” She said: “Muhammad ibn Abdallah sent me to ask for Sawda.” He said: “A noble match! What does your companion say?” She said: “She wishes it.” He said: “Call her to me.” She called her, and he said: “O my daughter, this one claims Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Abd al-Muttalib has sent to ask for you: he is a noble match. Do you wish that I marry you to him?” She said: “Yes.” He said: “Call him to me.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came and married her to him. Her brother Abd ibn Zam’a returned from the pilgrimage and began throwing dust on his head; he said after embracing Islam: “By your life, I was a fool the day I threw dust on my head: that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) marry Sawda bint Zam’a!”
Aisha said: we arrived in Medina and stayed with the Banu al-Harith ibn al-Khazraj, at the place called as-Sunh. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came and entered our house, and men and women of the Ansar gathered to him. My mother came to me : I was on a swing between two palm fronds, swaying : she lowered me from the swing; I had a little braid which I undid, she wiped my face with some water, then came leading me until she stood me at the door: I was breathless until my breath calmed; then she brought me in: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was seated on a bed in our house, and with him men and women of the Ansar. My mother seated me in her lap and said: “These are your family: may Allah bless you in them and bless them in you.” The men and women rose and left, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) consummated the marriage in our house: neither a camel nor a sheep was slaughtered for me, until Sa’d ibn Ubada sent us a bowl he used to send to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when he turned among his wives, and I was that day nine years old.
This text seems suspended, but it is connected, for what al-Bayhaqi related, through the chain of Ahmad ibn Abd al-Jabbar, from Abdallah ibn Idris al-Awdi, from Muhammad ibn Amr, from Yahya ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Hatib: Aisha said: when Khadija died, Khawla bint Hakim came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: “O Messenger of Allah, will you not marry?” He said: “And who?” She said: “If you wish a virgin, or a previously married one.” He said: “Who is the virgin? And who is the married one?” She said: “As for the virgin: the daughter of Allah’s dearest creature to you, Aisha; as for the married one: Sawda bint Zam’a, who believed in you and followed you.” He said: “Mention the two to me.” And he cited the complete hadith like what has preceded. That requires that his contract with Aisha preceded his marrying Sawda bint Zam’a; but his entering Sawda was in Mecca, and his entering Aisha was deferred to Medina, in the second year, as has preceded and will come.
Imam Ahmad related, from Aswad, from Charik, from Hisham, from his father, from Aisha: when Sawda grew old she gave her day to Aisha, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would divide for Aisha Sawda’s day among his wives. Aisha said: she was the first woman he married after me. Imam Ahmad related likewise, from Abu al-Nadr, from Abd al-Hamid, from Chahr, from Abdallah ibn Abbas: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) proposed a woman of his people named Sawda; she was a tall woman having five or six children from a husband who died. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “What prevents you from me?” She said: “By Allah, O prophet of Allah, nothing prevents me from you, save that you are the dearest of creatures to me; but I honor you that these children spend their mornings and evenings at your head.” He said: “Does anything else prevent you from me?” She said: “No, by Allah.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to her: “May Allah have mercy on you: the best of women mounted upon camels are the virtuous women of Quraysh: she who fondles her child in his youth and raises her husband’s son with her own hand.”
Ibn Kathir concludes: her husband before him (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was as-Sakran ibn Amr, brother of Souhayl ibn Amr.